This text is part of the special notebook Culture as a Gift
The holiday season is approaching, bringing with it the desire to escape in front of a good film, bundled up at home or in the unique atmosphere of a darkened theater. What are we watching during the Christmas holidays this year? Overview of works to watch, between new releases and classics, on platforms and on the big screen.
To see in the room
There is nothing to appreciate a feature film like the visual and sound deployment of a cinema speaker. The end of the year is always a good time for major releases, let’s take a look at the guns expected in the next month.
Amalgamating historical fresco and adventure, Poor Things (December 8), bringing together Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, recounts the distress of a young mother, survivor of a suicide attempt by drowning, whose brain is swapped for that of her baby.
New variation of the saga of Alexandre Dumas, THEthree musketeers: Milady (December 15), by Martin Bourboulon, is the continuation of Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan, published last spring, and revolves around the kidnapping of the valiant Constance Bonacieux (Lyna Khoudri) before the eyes of D’Artagnan (François Civil). The latter will be forced to join forces with the enigmatic Milady de Winter (Eva Green) to save her. Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris and Pio Marmaï reprise their roles as Athos, Aramis and Porthos.
Already announcing wonder, Wonka (December 15), with Timothée Chalamet in the title role, traces the enchanting journey of the most emblematic of chocolatiers. In his youth, Willy Wonka was full of ideas and aspired to change the world, one bite at a time!
The musical will be released on Christmas Day itself The color purpletaken from the novel by Alice Walker, which recounts the struggle of African-American women in the United States in the early 1900s.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 20), animated creation Migration (December 22), French comedy Merry Christmas (December 15), with Franck Dubosc and Emmanuelle Devos, the Franco-Italian drama Caravaggiowith Isabelle Huppert and Louis Garrel (December 8), and Ferrari (December 25) looking back at the ambitions of the automaker of the same name, with Adam Driver, are also on our radar.
Then, we impatiently anticipate the arrival at home of On the Adamant (1er December), documentary by Frenchman Nicolas Philibert dealing with psychiatry, recipient of the Golden Bear at the last Berlinale.
On the Quebec side, the very successful adaptation of Ru, the novel by Kim Thúy, by director Charles-Olivier Michaud, is already a must-see. The young Chloé Djandji, in the skin of a little Vietnamese refugee, radiates there, transmitting emotion essentially through her gaze alone.
In Fir$ (December 22), by Stéphane Moukarzel, we follow Rémi (Étienne Galloy), 21, who leaves his town of La Tuque to go sell Christmas trees in New York. In the Bronx, he will befriend a colleague, a deadpan French activist, Laura (Diane Rouxel).
Good local wines
Quebec cinema has particularly been on the rise since the end of the pandemic. On Crave, Club illico, Prime Video, Google Play and other addresses, you can catch up on excellent gems from recent years, including titles released very recently.
Big leader in nominations for 25e Québec Cinema Gala on December 10, viking, by Stéphane Lafleur, surprises with its audacity: five individuals recruited by a space center simulate, on Earth, the interpersonal pitfalls encountered by a group of astronauts on a mission to Mars. Offbeat humor, true to the filmmaker’s style!
All applauded by critics and acclaimed by the public, The plunger, My mother’s men, Simple like Sylvain, Baby sitter, Confessions, Borders, The shoemaker, The red rooms, A respectable woman, Arlette, North of Albany, Gamma raysthe moving The time of a summer by Louise Archambault, the very friendly Bungalow by Lawrence Côté-Collins and the choral film December 23 Most of them are already available for home viewing or will be available in a few days.
Even fans of fantasy and science fiction will have something to eat with Farador, by Edouard Tremblay, whose plot is rooted in a life-size game, leading to the castles of Normandy, with armor and knights. The team of Farador describes the project as a cross between Superbad And The Lord of the Rings.
Timeless classics
Between our pieces of log and pie, we often crave the comfort found in our good old classics. We will rock, via iTunes and other services, the jewel of our childhood The miracle of the 34e Street and the “never told” version of Nutcracker, with Elle Fanning. On Google Play, Apple TV and Amazon, from December 12, we will be eyeing two products from the Asterix franchise, including Asterix and Obelix against Caesar, by Claude Zidi.
Let’s not forget traditional television, which still has (yes, yes!) fans.
Who says the arrival of Santa Claus of course says Ciné-gift, a tradition now 41 years old at Télé-Québec. Asterix and Cleopatra (if you do not subscribe to the platforms mentioned above), The tuque war, Tintin and the Temple of the Sun…We know the drill! The meeting is set every day at 9 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., from December 9 to January 7, to reconnect with your favorites and introduce them to your children. Added to the program this year are, among others, the new opus of Tales for everyone, Firm coconutas well as Peanuts, the movie, upside down, Monsters and Co. And Finding Nemoamong others.
Elsewhere on the platforms
Always looking for new things? On the platforms, we know, the offer is endless.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will finally end up on Disney+ on the 1ster December. On Apple TV on December 15, The Family Plan will exhibit Mark Wahlberg as an exemplary father hiding a former hitman.
In Candy Cane Laneon Amazon Prime Video, Eddie Murphy finds himself at the heart of a pact with an elf (!), which will result in chaos in the city, for the duration of “12 Days of Christmas”.
The giant Netflix is not to be outdone with, once again, a battalion of high-profile productions. In the cute animated story LeoAdam Sandler plays… a lizard, while big names like Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon and Ethan Hawke star in the thriller Leave The World Behind, where a family is distraught after their electronic devices shut down, caused by a cyberattack (December 8). Bradley Cooper personifies the amorous upheavals of the conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein in Maestro (December 20).
More of a documentary enthusiast? The National Film Board (nfb.ca) relays Koromousso — Big sister, by Habibata Ouarme and Jim Donovan, which tends to break cultural taboos linked to female sexuality such as excision. In Kill a tigerby Nisha Pahuja, Ranjit, a farmer in the Indian state of Jharkhand, demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, a survivor of sexual assault.
Finally, the last appearance on screen of the illustrious astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, who died on October 13, the documentary The ocean seen from the heartby Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol and Marie-Dominique Michaud, will be broadcast on TV5 on December 19, then on tv5unis.ca.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.